Silverstone GP - General Admission

Today I bought two 3 day general admission tickets for this years Silverstone GP for myself and a friend, and I'm just wondering what I can expect. Where are the best positions to try and sit at? What are the facilities like, and food and drink vendors? Can you bring your own food and drink supplies in with you if you are camping? Just generally what we can expect, and any advice people have.

I am so excited, will be the first F1 race either of us have been to!!! Cheers in advance.

Spend Friday walking the track and find the position you like the best. You will need to be at the gate damn early on Sunday to get the prime positions. Gates open at 6, but people are queuing quite sometime before that.

Food and drink is not too bad and plentiful, but expensive. We take everything we want for the day in with us in rucksacks. There is no problem taking anything in.

we went to the 6hours a year or two back, and the food is good, but expensive, facilities are pretty disapointing on the whole, some of the toliets are good, some bad. some of the paths where just rough gravel :/ and nearly all the grandstands are temporary and not roomy.

I have been going one way or another for the best part of 40 years (gawd) the GP normally falls on my birthday weekend to make doubly fun for me

I will try and summarise my advice in bullet points below:

#1 Get your camping sorted, if you are GA then for race day to get a good spot you are going to have an early start (more later) and you don't want to be too far away from the track.
#2 Camp sites range from party central to something approaching rural idyll. A good balance of nice atmosphere to slightly relaxed is the Silverstone SRA at Rookery Farm in Silversone village. Its about a 20 minute walk into the main circuite entrance with a good bar okay showers.
#3 Explore the circuit on Friday. Your GA ticket will get you into every grandstand on Friday so you can check out views etc. Friday is busy but by the standards of Saturday and Sunday not too crowded so make sure you walk the entire track and decide which GA you want to view from for the race.
#4 For the most popular GA area's on race day make sure you are there for 6am to 7am at the lastest on race day, beyond that and it will be getting very busy and crowded (lots of people aim to be in by 5am)
#5 The catering at Silverstone is actually pretty good with reasonable choice. A lot of people complain about it but if you have done any music festivals then it is absolutely nothing to complain about in terms of choice and value!
#6 On race day plan your toilet breaks. 5 minutes to the start is not the time to decide you need the gents (or ladies) trust me.
#7 The GP after party is well worth hanging on for, usually a very good atmosphere and quite a lot of fun (Rick Parfitt jnr excepted)

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask in the forums or PM me. I'm sure lots of other people will have advice as well.

I went in 2010, im from Yorkshire, didn't fancy camping so I travelled it for the 3 days. Personally i found the end of the old start-finish line to be the best location to spectate. You have a good view of copse plus all the main facilities are nearby. It was my first G.P and tbh even though it is a great experience, I do prefer watching it on the t.v

I went in 2010, im from Yorkshire, didn't fancy camping so I travelled it for the 3 days. Personally i found the end of the old start-finish line to be the best location to spectate. You have a good view of copse plus all the main facilities are nearby. It was my first G.P and tbh even though it is a great experience, I do prefer watching it on the t.v

Camping and the atmosphere in the camp sites at night also add to the whole experience for me. Getting wasted with rival fans with friendly banter and chatting to cute girls giving out flyers is always entertaining lol.

Stowe is always a great place to stand. You get the cars coming off the Hangar Straight and into the Stowe complex which is also a nice place for photographs. The banking enables you to see over the catch fencing too which is a bonus.;)

If you check out the Grand Prix Travelling sub-forum a lot of your questions and more are answered there.

Spend Friday walking the track and find the position you like the best. You will need to be at the gate damn early on Sunday to get the prime positions. Gates open at 6, but people are queuing quite sometime before that.

Food and drink is not too bad and plentiful, but expensive. We take everything we want for the day in with us in rucksacks. There is no problem taking anything in.

This pretty much sums everything up quickly and perfectly. You can bring your own booze/juice/food into the stands with you. I wasnt sure if i was allowed last year so on the Friday i bought pints at the track (£3.80 - only 40p more expensive than my local, so not too bad) only to watch everyone bring their own booze.

I camped in Woodlands - personally, i thought the campsite was brilliant. Toilets cleaned and bins emptied regularly, plenty of entertainment at night, only £.50 a pint too...... I'll be back soon. Much better than the toilets at the track which were way too few and far inbetween.

I got to my gate at 6am Sunday morning to find a few hundred people in front of me. I managed to get a spot right on the pit entry line which wasnt the greatest for seeing on track action but there was a giant tv just opposite - take note of where these are and check them out on Friday - if you cant get a good vantage spot for racing, the next best thing is being near one of the big screens.

Thanks for all the advice people, its much appreciated! I was also wonderin whether its worth getting one of those TV things, the ones you hear them talk about during the race on actual telly?

I didn't last year and wasn't really too bothered tbh. IMO I came to see the cars live and didn't want to spend half the time looking down at the telly. They sell portable radios with headphones there for about a tenner so you could have the circuit commentary on or 5 live which is what I did. You can't hear the commentary over the loudspeakers at the track half the time anyway.

Got to love the people at Luffield who sat facing away from the track watching the big screen during qualifying

My wife and I finally got round to booking our tickets yesterday too.
We are in exactly the same position. General admission for three days plus camping.
Cant wait. This advice has been epic. Ill keep watching for more

I will be going to Silverstone this year since I am the technical director of our University's FSAE team (Cairo University, Egypt) and we will be going to silverstone in July for the competition. A friend and I thought we might as well go 5 days early and attend the British GP as this is my first chance to date to attend any F1 race.

I think i will be getting General Admission tickets as they are the cheapest out there, we wont be able travel all the way from Egypt with the camping gear so we have two options:

1. If a company would set us our tents and have everything ready we would consider camping (silverstone camping service is sold out). Camping F1 have this service but for 110 pounds for 4 days (and we will be staying the extra day in a motel, since we are there for 5 days)
2. we could stay in a local motel or B&B for the whole 5 days. (after that the team will arrive and we will be camping in the circuit due to the competition's events, we will be shipping the camping gear with the car so this shouldn't be a problem). We Could afford spending around 200 pounds for our stay, given it is good enough.

can you please instruct me on what you would recommend for me to do, Also as i said we will be staying on the whole for around 11 days in London, what would be the average living expenses their beside accommodation (per day if possible on food, transport. nothing fancy expect going to see the city but not doing much)?

If you can would you recommend some local motels/B&Bs for our stay, so that we are close enough to the circuit but also have the option to leave during the nights and enjoy the city ( i hear Milton Keynes is not a really good place to stay so if you would recommend at least a zone for me to look at it would be appreciated)

I would appreciate any help you can offer me on this subject as for me it is really like taking a stab in the dark.

hello, like a few people here, this years Silverstone 2012 grand prix will be my first. (3 Day General Admission tickets)

It look slike the general concensus is do your home work and scout the track on the fri/saturday and get there early doors on Sun. Although it seems this year they have made some changes to the track lay out so there's better general admission viewing. Any idea as to where this will be? I.e. they have moved fences etc.

Theres plenty of advice as to where to go, although is there any advice as to places to avoid? I.e. over crowding/view obscured/no action etc?

hello, like a few people here, this years Silverstone 2012 grand prix will be my first. (3 Day General Admission tickets)

It look slike the general concensus is do your home work and scout the track on the fri/saturday and get there early doors on Sun. Although it seems this year they have made some changes to the track lay out so there's better general admission viewing. Any idea as to where this will be? I.e. they have moved fences etc.

Theres plenty of advice as to where to go, although is there any advice as to places to avoid? I.e. over crowding/view obscured/no action etc?

hello, like a few people here, this years Silverstone 2012 grand prix will be my first. (3 Day General Admission tickets)

It look slike the general concensus is do your home work and scout the track on the fri/saturday and get there early doors on Sun. Although it seems this year they have made some changes to the track lay out so there's better general admission viewing. Any idea as to where this will be? I.e. they have moved fences etc.

Theres plenty of advice as to where to go, although is there any advice as to places to avoid? I.e. over crowding/view obscured/no action etc?

Many thanks people.

Here's hoping for a Maclaren 1/2 (Button 1st hopefully

Best bits from all the forums ive found...• i would recommend up by hanger (bit of a trek though). on race day you will have to be up mega early to get the best places. take a fold up chair or a blanket to sit on and make sure you are near the toilets and food stalls. we went general admission a few years ago and we were trackside at 6 am. we were right next to the fence at the first corner• If your going for the 3 days I would advice walking the track on Friday and viewing from as many places as possible to work out what view you enjoy the most. Get up very early on Sunday and be in the queue well before 06:00 when the gates open, and then head as quickly as possible to your chosen area to stake your claim. The best spots fill up very quickly.• I would sit a Luffield for good views. Also the newly named Village area. Stowe is great too you have to get on the circuit very early to get a good spot, 6am ish. 2. Club corner is where i watch from every year after wandering around the track to find the right place. But i would suggest you go there on Friday and Saturday as well so you can wander round the track and find your own favourite place.• enjoy the view from pretty much every point around the outside of the circuit. There is a brilliant General Admission viewing area at the entry to the super fast Maggots and Becketts complex and this offers the best opportunity to see Formula 1 cars working at their hardest• I would sit a Luffield for good views. Also the newly named Village area. Stowe is great too• I'll probably head down to Club at 6am and claim a place there! I think this is the best spot on the circuit, and wish they would stick a grandstand there! The thing I dont like about General Walkabout tickets, is that once your there you cant move, or you'll never get back to the same space!• On the fence, turn in at Maggots. it may well be covered up now with blue plastic or Fosters signage but that was where I stopped back in the day• I like to be at Club corner ...that's general admission and standing though.• On race day last year, I got a fold up chair, and sneaked in and found a spot pretty early, but not too late, between becketts and maggots, right near the fence, there's a screen there, it's not bad, but I haven't checked out other places, and other tickets, but between beckets and magotts was pretty interesting, but normally it's all clean through there, but still cool to see a f1 car go through there. Sith's recommendation of Luffield and Abbey seems the one to go for though, I briefly saw those in practice sessions, should of saw more of it. Probabley this year• Have GA'd for most of the last 20 years. Apart from no more club corner GA is so much better with the new track, before it really was £150 to stick your deck chair in the mud. Now there isn't quite as much mud! and loads more GA areas so it's not such a mad rush and a tight squeeze. 2 years ago I'd have warned newbies away from GA unless they were with someone who had been before. But now there's so many more GA places to watch it's a lot better and there's no more need getting up at 4am to get a good spot• I'd say woodcote area. Some concrete banking there as well. Also if you are there for 3 days, standing by the side of maggots is a must. Then catching a session on the Becketts grandstand. See the whole Becketts section plus a lot of the new track. A lot of action.

I've messed up. After deciding not to go this year, due to £££. Me and my mate were like f... It, lets go. GA sold out though, for the weekend. I know you can get individual days, but the whole weekend away is what we love about it. Gonna be gutted on Thursday. Stuck at work when I should be on the way to Silverstone! Will be even worse watching practice as well.

I've messed up. After deciding not to go this year, due to £££. Me and my mate were like f... It, lets go. GA sold out though, for the weekend. I know you can get individual days, but the whole weekend away is what we love about it. Gonna be gutted on Thursday. Stuck at work when I should be on the way to Silverstone! Will be even worse watching practice as well.